𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄

𝐄𝐗𝐈 - 𝟔

𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟗

    𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐒 𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒. She couldn't believe what she had just done. It had been decades since she had been in school, yet here she was, enrolling for Mystic Falls High as a Junior. It was the only way she could protect Elena Gilbert, the innocent girl that the Mikaelson brothers were planning to sacrifice.

    Stefan chuckles from the entrance of the Salvatore boarding house. He had been kind enough to let her stay at the home, he owed it to her after all. She was the reason he got his ripper side under control.

    "This isn't funny," Renee pouts, slumping in her seat on the couch, "I haven't been to school in literally decades. I can't imagine learning the shit they teach now."

    "It can't be that bad," Stefan shrugs, walking down the wooden steps, hands in his pockets. He plops down in the seat in front of Renee with a kind smile, "at least we won't be complete loners. If we don't make any friends, we can always stick together."

    "Mm, I think that's a you problem, Steffy," Renee grins, reaching for the bottle of bourbon sitting on the table pressed against the back of the couch, "everyone loves me. I always end up being everyone's friend."

    "Says the literal mother of all creations," Stefan scoffs as he watches Renee pour herself a glass of the brown liquor, "they have to like you, you're like their mom."

    "Ew," Renee shakes her head at his wording, "don't say that, it makes me sound old."

    "You are old," Stefan rolls his eyes, pushing himself off of the couch and towards the dining area behind Renee, "what are you four hundred years old?"

    "No," she scoffs, sipping on the bourbon, "I'm only... six hundred and eleven."

    "Oh, I am so very sorry," Stefan yells from the kitchen.

    "Steffy, don't make me make the squirrels gang up on you when you go out to feed," Renee threatens, downing the rest of the bourbon. The taste was so familiar, nostalgic even. The hints of oak and caramel with notes of vanilla reminded her so much of someone she tried so dearly to forget.

    Her eyes land on the bottle, sighing as she sees the brand. Jim Beam. Oh, the memories that the brand had brought to her. Her throat stung slightly as the liquid lingered in her throat, and her eyes began to sting too.

    "Why is it that you always get the same brand of bourbon?" Renee laughs, pouring the liquor into two separate glasses. Ezekiel's eyes glimmer in admiration as he absorbs every detail of her face. Noticing his silence, she looks up, eyes meeting with his blue ones. "What?"